Tom Selleck is one of TV’s biggest stars – but he doesn’t love the attention that comes with it (Picture: Universal TV/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Tom Selleck achieved his big breakout role when playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in Magnum, P.I., going on to win several Emmy nominations and score more than 50 other film and television roles since.
But while his career has reached extraordinary heights since the 1980s, the actor has a love-hate relationship with fame.
In a new interview, the Blue Bloods star admitted that his runaway stardom caused him a great deal of discomfort, having been catapulted to one of entertainment’s biggest stars at a time when he still wanted to claw back some privacy.
‘I didn’t like it,’ Selleck, 79, said as he reflected on the sudden interest in his life.
‘Mainly because of family and a sense of privacy.’
The veteran movie star added to People: ‘I started getting asked questions in interviews that I didn’t want to say, give an answer to.
Selleck shot to fame rapidly off the back of Magnum, P.I. (Picture: Kristina Bumphrey/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock)
‘I was trying to, I said, “You better find a way and find a line about what you’re going to talk about.” I didn’t always succeed, but it just grew, and I still can’t quite describe it.
‘But I wasn’t going through it every day.’
Selleck went on to recall what kind of life he was living in his early days of fame, explaining that he ‘had a lovely one-bedroom house in Hawaii’, which he rented before he could afford to buy it.
While aware of his profession, the locals didn’t give him any hassle, as an actors’ strike meant they couldn’t start filming, leaving his neighbours blissfully unaware of his level of fame.
‘I actually was living Magnum’s life at the beach and stuff,’ he noted, comparing himself to the iconic character.
Life became very different for Selleck, though, when the series took off, earning him Golden Globe and Emmy nods every year from 1982 to 1986.
He was thankful to live in a quiet area in the 80s (Picture: Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
Selleck recently wrapped filming as Frank Reagan in Blue Bloods (Picture: CBS)
‘It was really, I don’t know, a lot to adjust to, I think,’ he confessed.
One thing Selleck was thankful for, however, was that shooting took place in Hawaii.
He imagined that if filming had happened in Los Angeles and the show became a hit there, it would’ve been harder to handle the attention.
‘I don’t know how people do that. I had this huge buffer, and it was a blessing.’
TV legend Selleck is the proud father of two grown-up children.
He adopted his stepson Kevin Shepard in August 1987, when Shepard was 21, and also has daughter Hannah Margaret Selleck.
Selleck quit the role to be with his family (Picture: Gregory Pace/REX/Shutterstock)
The star has two grown-up children: a son named Kevin and a daughter named Hannah (Picture: Jim Smeal/BEI/REX/Shutterstock)
In 2012, Selleck told People how much his family means to him, saying the reason he bowed out of his successful show in 1988 was so they could spend more time together.
‘I quit Magnum to have a family,’ he stated.
‘It took a long time to get off the train, but I try very hard to have balance, and this ranch has helped me do that.’
As for his acting, it was revealed in late 2023 year that, after 14 years, CBS drama Blue Bloods was ending with its 14th season, with filming having finished earlier this summer.
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